Personal

"On March 25, 2007, Coca-Cola bottlers in the Dr Pepper Heartland commenced sales of 16 ounce cans of Dr Pepper made with cane sugar and featuring a logo with 'Old Doc' himself on them. This product is scheduled to be a limited time release."

To some people, that might not sound like a big deal, but for someone in the USA that has always hated the corn syrup and plastic bottle taste of soda these days, it is huge news. Some people like collecting fine wine or 59 Les Pauls or pre-CBS Strats, but I like a good soda (or pop) in a glass bottle made out of pure sugar.

Coming back from Canada last month, I received some strange looks from the border patrol because I declared that I had $5.00 worth of Dr. Pepper in my baggage from Canada. Canada has some of the best Dr Pepper because it is still made with sugar cane. I even brought home some for my dad to try. I find it funny that it is illegal in Canada to put caffeine in non-cola beverages, like Mountain Dew, but you can get codeine over the counter in a store.

I am curious to see what will happen with sugar prices when Castro dies, and more cars suck up the corn supply. I am secretly hoping that more companies will follow Jones Soda lead and go back to sugar cane.

You are better off collecting classic guitars anyway these days. If I actually had a '59 Les Paul, it would essentially be my retirement fund right now. Vintage guitars are "performing" better than stocks and bonds.

I just hope I can find some of these 16 oz cans in Michigan.

One of the best shows I've been to and I've been to over a thousand in my 31 years.

I was there with my Happy Cat shirt on. I was in the balcony next to the (disturbingly young) girls with the sign.

Impressions:

The Actual were pretty good. I liked the guitar headstock 'ping' they did during that Etch-a-Sketch song and they won me over with the Dream Police cover. Any band that covers Cheap Trick is OK in my book.

The new VR album sounds like it has a lot of good hooks in it. Quick Machines will be a good first single I believe. Very memorable chorus.

Set list was exactly the same as Chicago, but I wasn't at the Chicago show, so that was OK by me!

Setlist
Let It Roll
Do It For The Kids
Suckertrain Blues
Superhuman
This Fight
She Mine
Big Machine
Get Out The Door
Fall To Pieces
Vasoline [STP cover]
Just 16
She Builds Quick Machines
Set Me Free

Encore 1
Wish You Were Here [Pink Floyd cover]
Used To Love Her [GnR cover]

Encore 2
Psycho Killer [Talking Heads cover]
Slither

Anything in bold was a new song.

I just spent the past few hours redoing all the entries dating back to the beginning to (hopefully) have a consistent category per blog entry. I am hoping things will be easier to search for and the categories make sense. I'm just amazed I've written 820+ entries.

I am still unsure about LinkedIn as a service, but I know a lot of people are using it and enjoying the product. So, now there is an extra way to get in touch with me if you want. I am hoping I didn't leave too much open for the spambots to dredge upon.

If you know me from the past or present, feel free to add me to LinkedIn.

Maybe I will get to know you in the future.

I've never been satisfied or happy with the category tags I have had since this blog started. I spent part of today rearranging the sections in an attempt to make more sense. I like being able to click on a topic on the left and only see the relevant entries. I'm running into a limitation in the software to (properly) tag multiple categories to items. The current method is very cumbersome so I am tempted to code something to make it more user friendly.

I am still tinkering and moving entries so this site will be a little bit like the 1996 era of websites - "Under Construction" with the lame Yellow signs with the little man digging.

Most people look for places to eat when they are in an airport, but the first thing I look for is available power outlets. It is kind of sad that I have the electrical layout of airports memorized so I know where to sit so I can plug in my laptop and other items when I am waiting. It is amazing the amount of work you can get done with a laptop and a wireless connection while waiting for your constantly delayed/late flight.

I always believe in going to places prepared, so in my backpack of goodies, I include a wireless router/switch (WRT54GS running OpenWRT for the curious), a power strip, cell phone charger, cell phone USB cable, USB GPS adapter, a few network cables, and an air/car/international laptop power adapter.

Some people might think that is excessive or unnecessary but countless times it has saved me time, energy and money.

Speaking of GPS, it is fun to kill time on an airplane by placing your USB GPS adapter on the plane window and firing up Streets and Trips 2007. It is particularly interesting on long flights when you can trace your complete flight path.